The Flight

Bad weather forced Lindbergh to wait to fly to New York. While he was preparing for his flight, two groups had tried and failed to win the Orteig Prize. Even as Lindbergh waited for the weather to clear so he could leave San Diego, a two-man French team took off from Paris and headed toward New York. After making great progress, they disap­peared at sea on May 9, 1927.

On May 10, Lindbergh left California. He flew to St. Louis, reaching it in record

TEC

SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS

Model: Ryan NYP.

Structure: single-engine monoplane. Wingspan: 46 feet (14 meters). Length: 27.6 feet (8.4 meters). Engine: Wright Whirlwind, 237 horsepower.

Fuel capacity: 450 gallons (1,703 liters).

Speed: 120 miles per hour (193 kilometers per hour).

Range: 4,100 miles (6,597 kilometers).

4.

time, and after a brief rest, he flew onward again to New York.

When Lindbergh landed in New York on May 12, he met other teams eager to win the prize. All the teams were grounded, however, by poor weather over the Atlantic Ocean.

On the night of May 19, Lindbergh heard the weather was to change the next day. Unable to sleep, he drove to

The Flight

the airfield hours before dawn on May 20, 1927.

Later that morning, the plane was brought onto the runway. At 7:54 a. m., Lindbergh told his crew, “So long!” and took off, heading east. Lindbergh main­tained a steady speed to conserve fuel. As the day passed, he crossed New England and northeastern Canada. Exhausted by lack of sleep, he had to fight to stay awake.

That night, Lindbergh was over the Atlantic and steering by the stars. When he entered clouds, he feared losing course and also that ice would coat the wings and weigh down the plane. Lindbergh flew around the cloud banks, often changing course. He continued to fight sleep all night.

A few hours after dawn, he spotted some fishing boats. Lindbergh asked for the direction of Ireland by shouting, but heard no response. Some hours later, he

О Charles Lindbergh is introduced by President Calvin Coolidge to a huge crowd gathered in Washington, D. C., in June 1927 to celebrate his successful flight.

spotted the Irish coast. He had traveled about 3,000 miles (4,830 kilometers) and was only a few miles off course. As people below cheered, Lindbergh headed to the coast of mainland Europe.

It was nightfall again-about 10 p. m. local time-when the exhausted pilot reached Paris, the capital of France, on May 21, 1927. When he spotted Le Bourget, the city’s airfield, Lindbergh nosed the plane down. He landed 33/2 hours after taking off and was greeted by a joyous crowd.